One should not wear mask too much, Covid third wave is not dangerous: Congress MLA

New Delhi, Jan 11: Countries across the world have made wearing masks in public places compulsory to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cases. In India, almost all the states are imposing fines if people are caught without masks amid the surge in fresh cases.

However, here is a lawmaker who has said that masks should not be worn for a prolonged period. "I am saying as an MBBS doctor that there should not be prolonged mask usage. One should wear a mask in crowds," news agency quotes Dr Irfan Ansari, Congress MLA from Jamtara, Jharkhand, as saying.

According to him, the third wave of Covid-19 is not dangerous as people are testing negative soon after they test positive for Covid-19. He added, "There is no need to panic during this third wave of COVID19," he told the reporters on Monday.

The MLA claims that people are recovering after taking paracetamol.

Interestingly, the Jharkhand government is imposing fines for not wearing masks in public and collected a significant amount from Covid violations in the last two years.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 tally of Jharkhand climbed to 3,82,054 as 4,482 more people tested positive for the disease on Monday, up from 3,444 fresh infections the previous day, a health department bulletin said. The state capital Ranchi reported the highest number of new cases at 1,537, followed by East Singhbhum at 923, Ramgarh at 232, Bokaro at 194 and West Singhbhum at 189.

The death toll rose to 5,172 as two more persons- one each from Bokaro and Koderma- succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.